Four downs: Bears waste golden opportunity

December 23, 2013|By Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune reporter

What did it mean?

With a prime-time kickoff, the Bears and Eagles had the luxury of monitoring the results of three important afternoon games within their divisions. The Cowboys' 24-23 defeat of the Redskins removed all NFC East implications from Sunday night's game for the Eagles, with the Eagles and Cowboys set to square off for the division title in Week 17. In the NFC North, meanwhile, the Lions' 23-20 home overtime loss to the Giants eliminated Detroit from contention. Shortly after, the Packers' 38-31 home loss to the Steelers reduced the Bears' magic number for winning the division to one. They failed to capitalize.

Briggs is back

As expected, veteran linebacker Lance Briggs returned to action Sunday for the first time in 63 days. Briggs, who suffered a small fracture in his left shoulder in Week 7, missed seven games and saw the Bears' run defense unravel in his absence. But his return didn't exactly provide the lift the defense needed. The Eagles scored 21 first-quarter points and rolled up 246 yards in the first half. The Eagles finished with 289 rushing yards and topped 400 total yards (514) for the 12th time in 15 games this season.

Rush hour

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy created quite a cushion for himself in his pursuit of the 2013 rushing title. McCoy knifed through the Bears for 133 rushing yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns. His second TD, a 1-yarder in the third quarter, included a video-game spin off a tackle attempt by Julius Peppers, creating an easy waltz into the end zone. McCoy ended the night with 1,476 rushing yards for the season, well ahead of Jamaal Charles (1,287), Adrian Peterson (1,266) and Matt Forte (1,229). McCoy also topped 2,000 yards from scrimmage, now up to 2,012.

Record players

Not that it mattered much, but Jay Cutler's 6-yard TD pass to Brandon Marshall on the final play of the third quarter was the Bears' 30th scoring strike this season. Believe it or not, that set a franchise record, breaking the record of 29 TD passes set by the 1947 Bears and matched by the 1995 team. Of the Bears' 30 TD passes, 17 have come from Cutler, 13 from Josh McCown. But of greater significance Sunday was the season-high five sacks the Bears surrendered, as they never steadied their protection against the Eagles' creative 3-4 attack.